Dale Earnhardt Jr. has denied team-mate Jeff Gordon an automatic advancement to the final stage of NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup with his first win at the famed Martinsville Speedway.
The track known as the ‘Paperclip’ punished plenty of cars, including Chase contenders Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick who both were involved in incidents during the 500-lap journey around the flat half-mile track.
He had held a comfortable lead before a crash involving Kyle Larson and Australia’s Marcos Ambrose brought out the caution with 12 laps remaining. Earnhardt Jr. Took the lead from Tony Stewart after restarting fifth with less than five laps remaining and won the race by two cars lengths from Gordon.
“We have tried to win here so many years and this place is so special to me. Real emotional win. I can’t believe we won here,” said Earnhardt Jr.
This weekend marked the 10-year anniversary of the Oct. 24, 2004 crash of a plane on its way to Martinsville that claimed 10 lives, including team owner Rick Hendrick’s brother, son, nieces, his team’s head engine builder and general manager.
“I’m just really emotional. This means so much to all of us,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I lost my daddy a long time ago. And I know how hard that is. I can’t imagine losing the magnitude of people that Rick did. My heart goes out to him.
“This honours them,” Earnhardt Jr. said.
The victory by Earnhardt, who last week was eliminated from the Chase, means that two of the final four spots in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway will be determined by points. Results of the eight Chase drivers: Jeff Gordon second; Ryan Newman third; Joey Logano fifth; Matt Kenseth sixth; Denny Hamlin eighth; Carl Edwards 20th; Brad Keselowski 31st; Kevin Harvick 33rd.
Harvick and Keselowski must win at either Texas or Phoenix over the next two weeks to be in the final running for the title. Keselowski was in the same situation last weekend at Talladega where he won the race.
For Ambrose he seemed destined for a finish inside the top 12 narrowly avoiding a number of wrecks, before the contact with Larsen. He finished one lap down after his crew was forced to make major repairs in 23rd.
“We got shuffled out there on a couple pit stops and lost track position, and then we got dumped by Kyle Larson and our day was done,” said Ambrose.
“We raced hard all day and drove ourselves into the top 10. It’s good that we were able to do that, but we couldn’t complete it.”
VIDEO: Earnhardt Jr. wins
VIDEO: Victory Lane
VIDEO: Keselowski wreck
RESULTS: Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 : Martinsville Speedway
| POS. | CAR | DRIVER | MANUFACTURER | STARTING POS. | LAPS | LAPS LED | FINAL STATUS | POINTS | BONUS POINTS |
| 1 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Chevrolet | 23 | 500 | 79 | Running | 47 | 4 |
| 2 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 13 | 500 | 130 | Running | 44 | 2 |
| 3 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 9 | 500 | 0 | Running | 41 | 0 |
| 4 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 4 | 500 | 18 | Running | 41 | 1 |
| 5 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 2 | 500 | 60 | Running | 40 | 1 |
| 6 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 3 | 500 | 2 | Running | 39 | 1 |
| 7 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 12 | 500 | 33 | Running | 38 | 1 |
| 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 5 | 500 | 68 | Running | 37 | 1 |
| 9 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 15 | 500 | 0 | Running | 35 | 0 |
| 10 | 34 | David Ragan | Ford | 29 | 500 | 0 | Running | 34 | 0 |
| 11 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 8 | 500 | 0 | Running | 33 | 0 |
| 12 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 19 | 500 | 0 | Running | 32 | 0 |
| 13 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 21 | 500 | 0 | Running | 31 | 0 |
| 14 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 14 | 500 | 0 | Running | 30 | 0 |
| 15 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Ford | 18 | 500 | 0 | Running | 29 | 0 |
| 16 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 1 | 500 | 84 | Running | 29 | 1 |
| 17 | 51 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 22 | 500 | 4 | Running | 28 | 1 |
| 18 | 26 | Cole Whitt | Toyota | 36 | 500 | 0 | Running | 26 | 0 |
| 19 | 40 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 28 | 500 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 11 | 500 | 0 | Running | 24 | 0 |
| 21 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 27 | 500 | 0 | Running | 23 | 0 |
| 22 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | 34 | 500 | 1 | Running | 23 | 1 |
| 23 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | 25 | 499 | 0 | Running | 21 | 0 |
| 24 | 7 | Michael Annett | Chevrolet | 37 | 499 | 0 | Running | 20 | 0 |
| 25 | 98 | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | 35 | 499 | 0 | Running | 19 | 0 |
| 26 | 66 | Mike Wallace | Toyota | 43 | 499 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | 55 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | 17 | 496 | 0 | Running | 17 | 0 |
| 28 | 32 | Kyle Fowler | Ford | 42 | 491 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | 23 | Alex Bowman | Toyota | 32 | 490 | 0 | Running | 15 | 0 |
| 30 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 16 | 487 | 0 | Accident | 14 | 0 |
| 31 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 6 | 472 | 0 | Running | 13 | 0 |
| 32 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 7 | 459 | 0 | Running | 12 | 0 |
| 33 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 33 | 457 | 0 | Running | 11 | 0 |
| 34 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 30 | 451 | 0 | Accident | 10 | 0 |
| 35 | 36 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 31 | 442 | 0 | Running | 9 | 0 |
| 36 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 10 | 438 | 21 | Running | 9 | 1 |
| 37 | 13 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | 20 | 436 | 0 | Accident | 7 | 0 |
| 38 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | Chevrolet | 26 | 436 | 0 | Accident | 6 | 0 |
| 39 | 83 | J.J. Yeley | Toyota | 40 | 436 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 24 | 403 | 0 | Accident | 4 | 0 |
| 41 | 33 | Travis Kvapil | Chevrolet | 39 | 280 | 0 | Engine | 3 | 0 |
| 42 | 44 | Timmy Hill | Chevrolet | 41 | 30 | 0 | Brakes | 2 | 0 |
| 43 | 93 | Clay Rogers | Toyota | 38 | 25 | 0 | Overheating | 1 | 0 |
STANDINGS
| POS | DRIVER | POINTS | BEHIND | STARTS | WINS | TOP 5 | TOP 10 | DNF |
| 1 | Jeff Gordon | 4044 | Leader | 33 | 4 | 13 | 21 | 0 |
| 2 | Ryan Newman | 4041 | -3 | 33 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 1 |
| 3 | Joey Logano | 4040 | -4 | 33 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 4 |
| 4 | Matt Kenseth | 4039 | -5 | 33 | 0 | 12 | 20 | 2 |
| 5 | Denny Hamlin | 4037 | -7 | 32 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 2 |
| 6 | Carl Edwards | 4024 | -20 | 33 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 2 |
| 7 | Brad Keselowski | 4013 | -31 | 33 | 6 | 14 | 17 | 1 |
| 8 | Kevin Harvick | 4011 | -33 | 33 | 3 | 11 | 17 | 2 |
| 9 | Kyle Busch | 2230 | -1814 | 33 | 1 | 8 | 14 | 4 |
| 10 | AJ Allmendinger | 2198 | -1846 | 33 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
| 11 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | 2196 | -1848 | 33 | 4 | 12 | 18 | 2 |
| 12 | Jimmie Johnson | 2186 | -1858 | 33 | 3 | 10 | 18 | 3 |
| 13 | Greg Biffle | 2178 | -1866 | 33 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 1 |
| 14 | Kasey Kahne | 2173 | -1871 | 33 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 4 |
| 15 | Kurt Busch | 2155 | -1889 | 33 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 6 |
| 16 | Aric Almirola | 2124 | -1920 | 33 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 |
| 17 | Kyle Larson | 981 | -3063 | 33 | 0 | 8 | 16 | 4 |
| 18 | Clint Bowyer | 923 | -3121 | 33 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 4 |
| 19 | Austin Dillon | 910 | -3134 | 33 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 20 | Jamie McMurray | 906 | -3138 | 33 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 3 |
| 21 | Paul Menard | 856 | -3188 | 33 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 2 |
| 22 | Brian Vickers | 847 | -3197 | 33 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
| 23 | Marcos Ambrose | 802 | -3242 | 33 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| 24 | Martin Truex Jr | 773 | -3271 | 33 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| 25 | Tony Stewart | 741 | -3303 | 30 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 3 |
| 26 | Casey Mears | 723 | -3321 | 33 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 27 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 687 | -3357 | 32 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| 28 | Danica Patrick | 679 | -3365 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 29 | Justin Allgaier | 576 | -3468 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 30 | David Gilliland | 511 | -3533 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 31 | Cole Whitt | 494 | -3550 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 32 | David Ragan | 485 | -3559 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 33 | Michael Annett | 481 | -3563 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 34 | Reed Sorenson | 469 | -3575 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 35 | Alex Bowman | 387 | -3657 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 36 | Josh Wise | 387 | -3657 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 37 | Travis Kvapil | 214 | -3830 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 38 | Michael McDowell | 205 | -3839 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 39 | Ryan Truex | 193 | -3851 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 40 | Terry Labonte | 88 | -3956 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | Jeff Burton | 87 | -3957 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Michael Waltrip | 76 | -3968 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 43 | David Stremme | 75 | -3969 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 44 | Bobby Labonte | 54 | -3990 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 45 | Parker Kligerman | 54 | -3990 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 46 | Timmy Hill | 53 | -3991 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 47 | Brett Moffitt | 48 | -3996 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 48 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 47 | -3997 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 | Alex Kennedy | 47 | -3997 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 50 | Dave Blaney | 46 | -3998 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 51 | David Reutimann | 37 | -4007 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | Boris Said | 28 | -4016 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 53 | Nelson Piquet Jr | 18 | -4026 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 54 | Eddie MacDonald | 9 | -4035 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 | Tomy Drissi | 6 | -4038 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 56 | Clay Rogers | 2 | -4042 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 57 | Landon Cassill | 0 | -4044 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 58 | Sam Hornish Jr | 0 | -4044 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 59 | Trevor Bayne | 0 | -4044 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 60 | Ryan Blaney | 0 | -4044 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 | Brian Scott | 0 | -4044 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 62 | Ty Dillon | 0 | -4044 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 63 | Mike Wallace | 0 | -4044 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 64 | Kyle Fowler | 0 | -4044 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 65 | J.J. Yeley | 0 | -4044 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 66 | Joe Nemechek | 0 | -4044 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 67 | Blake Koch | 0 | -4044 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 68 | Mike Bliss | 0 | -4044 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 69 | Corey Lajoie | 0 | -4044 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 70 | Joey Gase | 0 | -4044 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 71 | Regan Smith | 0 | -4044 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 72 | Morgan Shepherd | 0 | -4044 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 73 | Johnny Sauter | 0 | -4044 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 74 | Eric McClure | 0 | -4044 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 75 | Matt Crafton | 0 | -4044 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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